Meet the nomadic families who ‘world-school'
I t's a hot, sticky afternoon in Poinguinim, a farming village in India's Goa region, and Amanda Ashworth is waiting for her two younger children to finish their circus skills session. They will then decamp to the nearby beach for an evening of surfing and maybe turtle-watching, along with the seven families in residence at the Worldschooling Hub Goa that Ashworth runs on a former cashew nut plantation.
'The families were all up very early this morning for a guided hike to an abandoned hotel. Then some drop off their children for schooling from 8.30am until 1pm while they work,' says Ashworth, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, of her guests who have decided to step off the treadmill back home and take a family gap year, or two.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Traffic, crowds and construction: India's hill stations swamped by tourists escaping Delhi heat
Until recently, the drive up the mountainous road to Landour was a highlight of a visit to the small hilltop town, as drivers enjoyed glorious Himalayan views and breathed in the cool forest air. Today, the journey is something to be endured with up to 1,000 cars a day clogging the narrow, winding road – slowing to navigate hairpin bends. A journey that once took five to six hours from Delhi can now take up to 10 hours, especially at weekends in May and June. Sitting in the foothills of the Himalayas at an altitude of more than 2,100 metres (7,000ft), Landour, a town of fewer than 4,000 people, was built by the British Indian army in the early 1820s as a convalescence station, thanks to its cooler temperatures. Although it is little more than two miles (4km) from Mussoorie, a popular tourist destination known as the 'queen of the hills', Landour was considered off the beaten track and attracted few visitors. But today, the oven-like heat in India's cities has led to a big increase in visitors to the country's popular hill stations, encouraging people to explore lesser-known, more remote villages such as Landour. Now, this once tranquil haven, where tourists could delight in birdsong and the scent of warm cakes coming from the teahouses, is now filled with the sounds of honking horns and the reek of exhaust fumes. Exposure during the pandemic, when social media influencers started to visit Landour and highlight its isolation and lack of crowds in videos, has also contributed to its rising popularity. 'Before this, very few tourists would come here,' says Ankita Singh, chief executive of Landour cantonment board. 'The [social media] reels made it popular. In the last five to six years, the number of tourists has grown exponentially. Recently, a 62-year-old man died in the ambulance before he could reach the hospital in Mussoorie, owing to the traffic jam.' In 2024, more than 2 million tourists visited Landour and Mussoorie, up from 1.47 million visitors in 2023 and 1 million in 2020. It can take up to an hour to drive the short distance between the two towns, and Landour's streets are now as chaotic as Mussoorie's, with traffic at a standstill and queues outside cafes and tearooms. The rise in visitors to the village has prompted the authorities to introduce measures to curb numbers. In June, the cantonment board introduced a limit to the number of cars, stipulating a maximum of 200 a day. Police are stationed at the entrance to the village to monitor traffic but online permits are planned to automate the process in the coming months. In 2024, India experienced its longest recorded heatwave since 2010. Many states experienced daytime temperatures above 40C (104F) for an entire month, leading to more than 44,000 cases of heatstroke. By April 2025, more than 10 states had already had severe heatwaves, according to a study by the thinktank Council on Energy, Environment and Water, released in May. The maximum temperature in May and June in Delhi this year hovered between 43C and 48C, according to India's meteorological department. By contrast, Landour's top temperature in June was a more comfortable 24C. But climate experts are warning that temperatures are rising at higher altitudes, too, and will pose a threat to hill villages. 'There is a significant rise in the temperatures during summer in some popular hill stations. Places like Nainital, Mussoorie and Munsiyari were extremely hot in 2024,' says Vishal Singh, director of the Centre for Ecology Development and Research (Cedar), which has been tracking temperatures in hilly regions for decades. The warmer weather has led to soaring sales of fans and air-conditioners. 'Homes and hotels in Mussoorie didn't have fans,' says Anil Prakash, 70, owner of Prakash Stores in Landour, an almost century-old shop selling homemade jams, pickles, peanut butter and oat cookies. 'We now feel the need for fans due to the increased heat. Every year, there seems to be a change in the weather. It is just getting hotter,' says Prakash. Pre-monsoon droughts have also led to water scarcity in the summer months. 'This heat will have a cascading impact,' says Manish Kumar, a researcher at a leading thinktank, the Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP). 'As hill stations on the peripheries start attracting more crowds, they will become like Landour.' Sign up to Global Dispatch Get a different world view with a roundup of the best news, features and pictures, curated by our global development team after newsletter promotion 'A small village like Sitla [Mukteshwar] – located on the edge of a reserve forest and with a population of less than 500 people – now has 15 to 20 resorts,' he adds. Trees have been cut down to make way for hotels and cafes to cater to the growing number of visitors. The construction boom – much of it haphazard – is contributing to emissions, local people say. 'Many trees have been cut and Landour is not the same,' says JP Singh, a retired merchant navy officer who lived in the town from 2000 to 2010. Rising temperatures in the hill towns are affecting migrant workers, too. But for some, the heat crisis has been a boon for business. 'If it's hot in the plains, our business is good,' says Naresh Chauhan, 28, a tour guide who migrated to Mussoorie four years ago from the Hindu pilgrim town of Yamunotri. 'I was hoping I can earn well here and improve my family's financial condition,' he says. The bet paid off: 'I earn 20,000 to 25,000 rupees [£172 to £215] a month, if business is good.' Ajit Singh Chauhan, who also migrated to Mussoorie from Uttarkashi to work as a tour guide, spends his days taking tourists to the popular Kempty waterfalls, the local market and around Landour He credits his earnings in 2024 to the heat, describing India's hottest year on record as a 'fantastic tourist season' in Mussoorie. 'The hotter it is, the better it is for us,' he says. But others drawn by the swelling crowds of visitors are now questioning their decision. Rahul Singh, who moved from Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi district five years ago, sells roasted chickpeas and nuts in paper cones to tourists walking around Mussorie's bazaar or seated in their cars, windows rolled down as they inhale the crisp air of the hills. 'Business was good then. I managed to earn 14,000 to 20,000 rupees a month,' says Singh, standing by a busy road in Mussoorie as air-conditioned cars roll by, their windows firmly shut. 'Sheesha khulega tabhi toh kuchh bikega na [I can sell if the car window is open],' he says. Fareed Rai, a fruit seller, came from Uttar Pradesh a year ago but is considering returning to his village. He installed a fan to keep his roadside shop cool but it fails to draw in many customers, who prefer to stay in their air-conditioned cars. 'Once the lease period of my shop is over, I just want to go back,' he says. A version of this story first appeared in the Migration Story, India's first newsroom to focus on the country's vast migrant population
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Daily Mail
I pulled my children out of school and now travel around the world with them
A couple 'world schooling' their children while backpacking have visited 40 countries - and taught their offspring to flamenco dance in Spain and carry out marine conservation in Montenegro. Diana Blinks, 41, and her husband, Scott, 47, have world schooled their three daughters - Lucille, 12, Edith, 11 and Hazel, nine - since 2022 when they left their hometown of Tampa, Florida, US. World schooling sees parents adopt an educational approach while travelling the globe as a family. Mothers and fathers will often use diverse cultural experiences as teaching opportunities and real-world settings as the classroom. Desperate to travel and teach their children about the world after the Covid-19 pandemic, the family set off for Paris, France, in July 2022, before heading to Central America, visiting Costa Rica, Mexico, and then the Caribbean. Diana and Scott seek out school environments and teachers before they arrive at their next destination. They travelled to 22 different countries in the space of a year - including Spain, Iceland and Greece. Their favourite place is Portugal after they came across across world schooling hubs - community gathering points, often in specific locations, that support families pursuing a world schooling lifestyle. They learnt how to cook pad Thai and mango sticky rice in Thailand, took flamenco lessons in Spain, practised surfing in Costa Rica and soaked up history in the Bahia Palace, Morocco. Mother-of-three Diana feels world schooling has 'enriched' their daughters' quality of life and given them a great deal of knowledge as it's allowed them to 'fully immerse themselves in culture'. The family are currently in Punta del Este, Uruguay, where they will remain until the end of June 2025. Diana, a content creator, said: 'I never thought I would be a homeschooling mum because I didn't have experience in education. 'But when we had our girls, we didn't think the school system aligned with what we wanted for them. 'We wanted their education to be practical as well. 'But we fell in love with homeschooling, and that's when we thought about taking it internationally. 'We wanted to see the world with our daughters. 'The homeschooling hubs have been amazing - it means the girls have peers like they would in a conventional school. 'We're travelling the world while getting the different, first-hand education for our girls.' The couple decided to take the plunge after the pandemic. 'We hadn't been able to travel for a few years from lockdown and then travel restrictions,' Diana said. 'Scott and I have always loved travel, even before we were parents. 'We didn't have the girls' school commitments as we were already homeschooling and Scott was ready to leave his job as a director in a software company in the corporate world.' In July 2022, the family left Tampa, Florida, and backpacked around Europe for five weeks before travelling around Central America - visiting Costa Rica, Mexico and the Caribbean. In 2023, they then backpacked around Southeast Asia and visited Vietnam, Thailand and Bali before staying in Portugal for three months, where they discovered Boundless Life - a world schooling hub. Enrolling in their retrospective school years in January 2024, the family have been able to locate different hubs while continuing their travels. The hubs run8:45 am to 3:30 pm, Monday to Friday, with classes in the morning and then extracurricular activities in the afternoon, subject to the country they're in. They are currently in Uruguay and have plans to go to South America- to explore Brazil, Porto Rica, Colombia and Mexico during the summer holidays. Diana said: 'The hubs have been amazing, it's meant we've all been able to make lasting friendships. In some places, the girls will attend classes at world-schooling hubs 'We're still able to make full use of culture immersion through cooking classes and historical tours. 'We get some backlash from people online, but I try not to pay that any attention. 'World schooling isn't for everyone [but] we believe in hands-on education.'
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Flight issues ‘mayday' call after almost running out of fuel during diversion in India
The pilot of an Indian passenger jet was forced to issue a 'mayday' call after almost running out of fuel, according to Indian media reports. IndiGo flight 6764 left Guwahati in the northeastern state of Assam at 4.40pm on Thursday and was heading for Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu in southern India, where it was due to arrive at 7.45pm. The plane failed to land at Chennai, however, and was instead sent to Bengaluru in the neighbouring southern state of Karnataka, 300km away from its intended destination, where it landed at 8.15pm. All 168 passengers were deboarded safely, with no injuries reported. Accounts of the reason for the diversion differed, with news channel NDTV quoting an IndiGo spokesperson as saying it was due to 'bad weather'. 'The flight was scheduled to arrive in Chennai at about 7.45pm, but due to bad weather in Chennai, it could not land. The pilot opted to divert the flight to Bengaluru, but realised they ran out of fuel. So, he alerted the airport with a mayday call," the spokesperson was quoted as saying. The Indian Express reported that the pilot was denied landing at Chennai International airport because of air traffic congestion, which led the pilot to divert the aircraft to Bengaluru. 'Since the flight did not receive clearance to land at Chennai due to congestion and was flying at low fuel, the pilot announced a fuel mayday as per the protocol, and the aircraft was diverted to Bengaluru. The Bengaluru Air Traffic Control (ATC) gave a priority landing, and the flight landed safely at 8.15pm,' a source from IndiGo told the newspaper. 'Contrary to some reports, the pilot did not announce a mayday, instead a fuel mayday, which is different. Post landing, passengers were deboarded without reported injuries and were given refreshments at the airport, as per protocol.' According to a report by the Times of India, the pilot attempted a 'go around' after the landing gear touched the runway, and made the 'mayday call' when it was around 56km from Bengaluru's Kempegowda International airport. Citing a source, the newspaper reported that the aircraft appeared to have an 'unstabilised approach'. Several sources at the ATC confirmed to the Times of India that the pilot did not attempt a second approach at Chennai and flew to Bengaluru. The Independent has reached out to IndiGo for comment. The aircraft was refuelled at Bengaluru and finally took off with a new crew and all passengers at around 10.24pm, since the crew's flight duty time had lapsed by then. The passengers finally arrived in Chennai at 11pm. India's aviation sector has been under intense scrutiny in recent weeks amid a series of safety and operational incidents that have raised serious concerns. Earlier this month a London-bound Air India flight crashed shortly after take-off in Ahmedabad, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. Days later, the airline was issued a stern warning by India's aviation safety watchdog over breaches of pilot duty‑time regulations during long‑haul flights. On Friday, passengers from two Air India Express flights landed in Patna to find that their baggage had not arrived. Recently, an IndiGo flight arriving in Raipur from New Delhi was delayed on the tarmac after a door malfunction left passengers trapped onboard for nearly 40 minutes. According to data shared by India's civil aviation ministry, private airlines in India reported 268 instances involving technical issues with aircraft over the 13 months leading up to January 2025. IndiGo – India's largest airline by market share – accounted for 118 of these incidents, while Air India reported 66.
